Vehicles generally contain instrument panels located in front of the driver's and passenger's seats. The instrument panel may contain a variety of components including meters, gages, audio and video accessories, HVAC accessories, airbags and the like. While the instrument panel itself may provide some support for these components, the instrument panel and components may generally be attached to an instrument panel reinforcement (IPR) such that the IPR supports both the instrument panel and the various components contained in the instrument panel. The IPR may also serve as an attachment point for various structural members, such as the steering column support bracket, the cowl bracket, and driver and passenger side braces.
To facilitate the attachment of the instrument panel and the various components and structural members to the IPR, the IPR may comprise a plurality of purpose-built brackets. For example, driver and passenger braces may be connected to the IPR via brace brackets while audio components may be connected to the IPR through audio brackets. Other individual components may have a corresponding bracket or brackets by which that specific component is connected to the IPR.
The problem with such a design is that separate brackets are required for each component that is attached to the IPR. As such, a bracket or pair of brackets must be separately welded to the IPR for each component. Moreover, the brackets for each component may have a different design than a bracket for another component. Accordingly, the brackets for each component are generally manufactured using separate tooling. The extra material, tooling, labor, and time all serve to increase the overall cost of the vehicle.
Accordingly, a need exists for an integrated bracket for attaching multiple components to the instrument panel reinforcement of a vehicle.